The contract to improve the water system at the Warren Elementary School was awarded to Kingsbury Construction of Waitsfield. Construction is slated to begin around July 7.

The $80,000 to $90,000 project will be funded by 30 percent state aid and a loan forgiveness opportunity the school has been given, Principal Andreas Lehner said. The net cost to taxpayers will be $12,000 to $15,000, he added.

POTENTIAL CONCERN

The project consists of a new water storage reservoir, water lines, standby chlorination system, interior plumbing improvements electrical control improvements, and miscellaneous appurtenances.
Lehner said, "In the current setup, we don't have health or safety issues; it's just that there is a potential concern if we did need to chlorinate the water."

The Warren Elementary School does not currently chlorinate their water, according to Lehner, but if they needed to, the way the system is set up doesn't adhere to the water department's specifications.

STORAGE TANK

The school's water is currently drawn from the well into a storage tank and from that storage tank into the building. "We do have a chlorinator and did have to use it about eight years ago," Lehner said.

That incident was before the new septic system, and during that time the school had a myriad of other water issues.

"If you need to chlorinate the water it needs to have a 20-minute contact time. This is not an option under our current setup," Lehner said.

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT

The other issue with the water system, he said, was the age of the current storage tank. The tank is original equipment, which puts it at about 36 years old.

"We're going to replace the storage tank, and reroute the piping so that the water will be pumping into the building. If we need to add chlorine, we'll do it at that point and then it'll go into the storage tank."

There was a vote to authorize it in the summer of 2006, but Lehner said, "It was not well attended." He added that the school's water "was never at a level of great concern."

NEW TANK

The plans call for the new tank to be buried near the flag pole, while the current one is under the kindergarten garden at the front of the school.

"There is going to be a whole lot of digging going on this summer; hopefully, it will be done in late June or early July," Lehner said.